How To Change An Existing Will - Birmingham Children'S Hospital: Fill & Download for Free

To Reflect the Real WorldSoho, New York City - 2015 - Just remember this picture, we'll get back to it in a moment or two.I normally stay out of this particular conversation because it makes people uncomfortable. Mostly me. But today I am going to go with the idea this is a troll seeking to provoke controversy and I am going to lay the smackdown on this idea once and for all, political correctness, be damned.Once upon a time:There was a nation known for its less than ideal treatment of what it deemed minority members of their population. These populations hadn't done anything wrong other than exist. There were many social issues around these populations, particularly how they came to be in this nation.There was much inherent and underlying cultural shame in their being brought to this nation, why they were brought here, the wars fought over their being here and ultimately their release from four hundred years of chattel slavery at the hands of one of American history's bloodiest wars.As much as we like to pretend this distasteful part of American history didn't happen, and revisionists work daily to change its inherent meaning, causation and outcomes, the truth stands. The Civil War was fought over the maintenance of slaves and the Slave State.What made it worse was once those minorities were released from bondage, they weren't allowed to have a piece of the pie. They weren't eagerly embraced by those who wronged them for centuries. They were falsely imprisoned, ostracized, marginalized, segregated and even attacked for decades after their so-called freedom had been obtained. This was not a good time for anyone who wasn't deemed "White" in America.What does this have to do with comics?At the same time this was going on:Birmingham, 1963: A 17 year old is attacked by police dogs during a Civil Rights peaceful protest.This was going on:The mighty Avengers were foiling the threat of Loki.Now ask yourself: this new mythology of superheroes, heroic legends fighting newly created monsters of science and old mythology wasn't spawned in a vacuum. These new heroes, related distantly to their 1940 predecessors, were created by White men who had the opportunity and lack of socialized constraints to write these creations who would become legendary in American culture.These legends weren't spawned in a place where people were not affected by the social and cultural mores of the world around them. In fact, they were a reflection of that world, as those writers and artists saw it and encouraged to make it so.Thus, do you believe it could be possible that the world that would attack Black people on the street with dogs would empower the same marginalized people with worlds of fantasy and power when the culture they lived in wanted nothing to do with them?That they would have been given an opportunity to show up empowered, able to challenge the status quo, alter the perspectives of White America and be seen as equal both in the real world and this mythic one?Not a chance in hell.Enter: The Blue MarvelThe very nature of the hypocrisy is such that a character created by Modern Marvel uses this very theme as part of his origin story!In 1962, Adam Brashear received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President John F. Kennedy on the day the President asked him to retire, since it had been discovered by the public that he is an African-American. As the Blue Marvel, Brashear wore a full-face helmet, but when it was damaged in a battle, his identity was revealed. There was massive controversy as the era of 1962 was too racist to accept a black superhero. Although Kennedy personally approved of Brashear's actions, the President reluctantly decided to ask Brashear to step down, and the Blue Marvel conceded.So we are clear on the subject: This hero did not exist in 1962! He was NOT part of Marvel's lineup of heroes and did not predate the first appearance of Marvel's first African superhero, the Black Panther (appearing in Fantastic Four #52, July 1966), nor the first African American superhero, the high-flying Falcon (appearing in Captain America #117, Sept. 1969).This retcon was created to explain why this particular powerful metahuman was not fighting crime at the same time the Fantastic Four was supposedly experiencing their origin story in midtown Manhattan.Marvel used the specter of racism to explain retroactively why there weren't more heroes of color in their lineup of mythological beings who could have been any color but were almost exclusively White.This is not an apology, mind you. But it's as close as Marvel will ever get.Black superheroes in the Marvel Universe were already rare. Powerful ones, beings capable of competing with the likes of Thor, Iron Man and the Hulk, were non-existent until the creation of Storm, the mutant weather-manipulator who appeared in Giant X-men #1 in 1975. And she would not grow truly formidable for another fifteen years, give or take.What does this have to do with race-bending and gender-bending in comics and media today?What this has to do with and why so many fans rage against the change is simple and has to do with the very first picture in this article. The world we live in does not resemble the ideal world of White America, where everyone is White, minorities are not seen, and the hegemony of White power is omnipresent in this nation.Instead it looks far more like Soho in that first picture.Diverse, mixed, people of all sorts of colors, cultures, social groups and religions populate the nation's largest cities. While the economic power of Whites has continued to grow, their numbers are slowly being eroded and this ultimately means their social cache, their influence, their dominance over all forms of media will also be reduced. But it may take some time.As media continues to develop, however, the people who are paying to see movies being made already know what many media companies are unwilling to accept.If all of your heroes stay White, you will lose your audience. Maybe not today, but as you transition toward the future, this will become an unacceptable circumstance.Here's where the problem lies.The fans will say:But those heroes were always White.Why is it a problem now?We should stay true to the canon.We should just make new heroes for those minorities to aspire to instead of changing the established ones.My response is simple:Get over yourself and check your privilege at the door.We don't live in the racially-segmented, culturally-insensitive, radically-offensive time of your fathers and grandfathers.While it may have been considered acceptable to pretend Black people couldn't be anything other than slaves, servants or entertainers in 1940s, 1950s or 1960s, it is now considered the very soul of racism to continue to promote those ideas today.If these entertainments were created in 1960s I would expect to see an all-white superhero team because Blacks and other minorities were simply excluded from any form of media that didn't portray them in a negative light.This is the year of our Lord, 2015. We are supposed to be better than this. What we say we are supposed to want, equality and an egalitarian society should be reflected in our workplaces, our streets and in our media. It should be reflected in the hopes and aspirations of all of our citizens not just our White ones.All of our children should have the opportunity to see themselves represented mythically, as idealized constructs, the same way White men have been allowed to do since such media came into existence.And don't get it twisted. I recognize the world we live in is still very racially divided. There is still murder and mayhem based on color, religion, culture all over the globe and it is unfortunately not likely to change to the more idealized perspective to which I am espousing. I get that.But if you tell me it is okay to say, there should never be any representation of people of marginalized groups: women, LGBT, Black, Asian, just to start, and every movie, every television show, every newscast should feature exclusively White men in positions of power and authority...You have a problem. And you should get some help. Look back at that picture of Soho.This is the future. This is the world we will slowly come to have everywhere. Different regions will have different mixtures but we are mixing. We are recombining to form new relationships with each other.And as such, we are asking...no we are demanding our media, our entertainment, to reflect a viewpoint that is not only White or male (of which comic companies are all to unwilling to change) but that it be about something other than White male stereotypes of superiority.Two of Marvel's hottest properties are the new Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan and Jane Foster as Thor.The character Cyborg, has experienced a renaissance under the hands of a writer of color, David Walker.On television, Iris West has become a woman of color.In the movies, the Fantastic Four has been presented with Johnny Storm as a Black man.Heimdall, the guardian of the Bifrost has been portrayed by the legendary Idris Elba.These relatively minor roles have caused the comic and movie fanbase to boycott the publications, stay home from the movies, and rail online as if Ragnarök itself were around the corner. They scream as loud as their tortured voiceboxes will allow: How could this happen? Why would you do this?The question should be: Why has it taken so long for anyone to notice the lack? It's right in front of you.It will be nearly twenty of Marvel's newest movies before a woman or a Black lead character will be featured. Really?Has it taken this long to recognize there is a problem? Or is it just White privilege which prevents anyone from seeing the problem. Because to them, there isn't one.This is how its always been.That, my friends, IS the problem.And if you are one of those people railing against change,railing against a diverse representation of people of color appearing in roles they have previously not been seen in,if you are indeed saying only Whites can be superheroic,you are the problem with our world today.Perhaps you should stop going outside. Stop going to the movies. Stop doing anything which puts you in contact with anyone else. Because the ideal world represented in the racially-insensitive, but oh so popular series, Mad Men, is gone.This is the future. And the present. Let's just go ahead and accept things the way they are.Just like Black people and other minorities had to accept things the way they were.As for Green Lantern being a White guy...He started off a white guy named Hal Jordan, test pilot.If you are young enough, you may have never heard about Hal until recently because this Black Green Lantern, John Stewart, was all the rage in the animated series, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. For nearly a decade and ninety episodes, give or take, he was the only Green Lantern some had ever known.In recent years, and in the terribly irresponsible Green Lantern (2011), Hal Jordan was returned to prominence, likely for the same reason most White heroes who get replaced for a time do, because the rabid, foaming at the mouth, comic-buying fan base said: We want him back.Was this because John Stewart wasn't good enough? Certainly didn't seem to be a problem for nearly a decade or more. In fact, John Stewart as Green Lantern, was a necessary change for DC to have any diversity in their major lineup of heroes at all.The same case could be made for the change in Johnny Storm, portrayed by Michael B. Jordan in the recent Fantastic Four movie.Storm being a step-brother to Susan Richards, doesn't inherently change the quartet's dynamic. A change that is not a change, isn't a change. He's still the same character, with the same powers, with a slightly altered origin story. Is this a reason to lose one's mind?Only if you think you are losing something else instead.Perhaps the misguided belief that only Whites should have power. Because if you look at the history of metahumans in comics and note that no one has a problem with a White guy having incredible, unbelievable power. There doesn't seem to be any lack of them.But the history of comics shows that few, if any such characters of equal power or capacity were ever regularly depicted as heroes of color representing any social group outside of Whites. And when they do have power equal to Whites, it doesn't last long.Monica Rambeau was such a character. When she first hit the scene in the Avengers, she was the second person to ever carry the name Captain Marvel (1982).When she first hit the scene, her powers were so great, she was considered to be one of the most powerful Avengers to EVER exist. But it didn't take long for Marvel to change that.Yes, I said Marvel. It was the decision of writers, editors and publishers who made the changes to the character. It was a conscious choice.Not only was she stripped of the powers that made her the equal of ANY Avenger including Thor, but she was stripped of her codename as well and she became Photon.Far less powerful and less interesting, she was eventually benched and disappeared from view until her recent reappearance in Mighty Avengers and returned to her previous power level by no less than the same Black hero who supposedly hid away for 53 years, Blue Marvel...Now, she is as powerful as she was before. At least until those aforementioned 'side effects' kick in... For a bit more insight into Monica Rambeau: The Unfortunate and Obscure History of Monica Rambeau, the First Female Captain MarvelYou have to remember, all of the decisions made about these characters depends on:Whether they get good writers or notWhether a writer who may be sensitive to the social lifestyle of the character (i.e. women writers, or writers of color) ever has a chance to write the book, and indeed this is invariably NOT the case.Whether the effort to ensure the successful deployment of said characters is madeAll of these things are decided by the producers and publishers of said characters. You can be assured every issue of Thor was not a good one. There are plenty of times his book did not sell well, for extended periods. And there are times when his book might even go off the shelves, briefly.The difference is: Marvel didn't give up on trying to find an audience for him. They were certain they could sell his book. So they kept trying.This is why Thor is still on the shelves sixty years later and Luke Cage is not.Is Thor inherently more interesting? No. But significantly more effort is made to keep him on the shelves.By any means necessary. (I'm sorry, Malcolm X, but it's appropriate in this instance.)The reason we don't see new heroes of color is because no one is making the effort to create them. No one has decided there needs to be one or two or eight. They currently don't see any value in diversity.Or maybe because the creators of comics enjoy the same level of privilege their comic counterparts get and just don't want it to change.What about a Latino Superhero?*What about it? There haven't been many of them. Goodness knows there should have been more by now. In old school comics, there may have been one or two, but I have to think hard to remember: Superfriends had one, but he appeared in less than ten episodes, and I was never truly clear about what his powers were. These characters got so little screen time between the four of them, any mainstream Superfriend could equal their total time in a single episode.Apache Chief would later go on to an episode of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law and get more screen time there than he did during his entire time with the Superfriends.A few other Latinos of note among DC. Fire, appearing in Superfriends #25 and reappearing in the Global Guardians and Justice League. A second stringer for most of her career.Then I remember Vibe (far right), a break-dancing member of Justice League Detroit during the comic's less popular eras.The legacy heroes replacing both the Question (Renee Montoya) and Wildcat (Yolanda Montez) of DC Comics. Both Latina women and both characters languished in obscurity for the most part.Are there any famous Latino superheroes?There may be others, but the most famous one I know is most likely NOT KNOWN as a Mexican-American. His name is Kyle Rayner. You may know him as the legacy hero, Green Lantern.Kyle Rayner was a struggling-but-gifted freelance graphic artist who was raised in North Hollywood and currently lived and worked in Los Angeles. Kyle was raised by his mother as an only child; his father abandoned his mother when she was pregnant. It was later revealed that his father was a Mexican-American CIA agent named Gabriel Vasquez and that Aaron Rayner was merely an alias.Kyle Rayner would become Green Lantern after Hal Jordan destroys the Green Lantern Corps during one of his many periods of remorse over one such thing or another. At this time, the Guardian, Ganthet, makes Kyle the custodian of the Last Green Lantern and Ring in the universe. Kyle eventually masters the ring and begins rebuilding the Corps.Kyle Rayner would go on to be considered one of the most powerful Green Lanterns of Sector 2814, possibly one of the most powerful Green Lanterns ever. He would be instrumental in saving the Green Lantern Corps, he would master every color of the Emotional Spectrum, save the Guardians of Oa and nearly all of space-time itself. I am willing to bet, most people don't know he is considered Mexican-American.And here in lies the lesson:A hero goes only as far as his writers and editors are willing to take him. The idea that heroes of color sell less well, are less viable, and inherently less interesting is BS.Considering the War of Light series for Green Lantern is a high point in the series entire career, and it stars Kyle Rayner.Before Kyle's example, there were few minority characters given the opportunity to shine at the level he has. He has proven instrumental and as capable as any White hero before him.Even heroes such as the Green Lantern, John Stewart, were depicted unevenly and were more often failures than successes. The destruction of the planet Xanshi is laid at John Stewart's feet. Millions died due to his hubris. And he is never allowed to forget it:And there is this one other half-Black, half-Latino fellow who has recently gathered a bit of fame: Miles Morales. You might know him better as the Ultimate Spider-Man (of Earth 1610).Summary:The dominant subculture in control of the media knows one thing, if it isn't aware of anything else:Images are powerful.Media is powerful.It shapes minds.It alters consciousness.It inspires.It changes the dreams of everyone who interacts with it.If media and advertising didn't work to do these things, would we spend hundreds of billions of dollars every year worldwide, to keep making it? Absolutely not.In media, the rule is: Perception is Reality.Think of comics and movie depictions of superheroes as advertising for the imagination.When you hear the litany of society saying Blacks or minorities don't aspire to anything, I have to wonder:If they saw more of themselves reflected in their media,If they saw themselves as able to transform the world,If they saw themselves as instrumental in the shaping of today's world,If they saw themselves being portrayed in media in a positive light instead of always in orange jumpsuits and handcuffs,if they saw themselves the same way White children get to see themselves portrayed in media, maybe it could make a difference for them.Maybe it could teach them and inspire them the same way Action #1 inspired a generation or two including mine.This clamor for representation is not about "political correctness". It is about the understanding that media can shape consciousness. If you alter media to falsely represent society, then you are responsible for intentionally undermining any group you falsely represent there.People are tired of that. Fanboys notwithstanding, People have had enough of misrepresentation. Do better or lose future audiences. People aren't sitting on their hands anymore. Change is coming.*That asterisk you saw earlierI may have been remiss in not discussing the major cultural shift when the comic company Milestone Media hit the scene in 1993. It was one of the first major production companies featuring diverse lineups of multiple minorities as lead characters.Milestone Media is a company best known for creating Milestone Comics and securing an unheard of publishing and distribution deal with DC Comics and the Static Shock cartoon series.It was founded in 1993 by a coalition of African-American artists and writers (namely Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis and Derek T. Dingle) who believed that minorities were severely underrepresented in American comics. Milestone Media was their attempt to correct this imbalance.Christopher Priest participated in the early planning stages of Milestone Media, and was originally slated to become the editor-in-chief of the new company, but bowed out for personal reasons before any of Milestone's titles were published.By early 1995, Davis had left Milestone as well, to become President of the new Motown Machine Works imprint, published by Image Comics. Cowan soon joined him to serve as Editor in Chief.The shockwaves in the comic industry lead by these prominent African American writers has never been equaled and even when Milestone and its characters were absorbed by DC Comics, it was never forgotten.New rumblings about the resurgence of Milestone Media appear to be in the works but it is an entirely different discussion worthy of time and attention outside the scope of this article. SDCC: Milestone Media Returns to DC Comics as "Earth-M" - Comic Book ResourcesKwezi - a comic from South African writer Loyiso Mkize.Too late. Change is here.Superheroes in CultureBatman (creative franchise): Would it be fair to say the character of The Shadow had a powerful influence on Bill Finger's and Bob Kane's interpretation and creation of Batman?Superman (creative franchise): Was John Carter the inspiration for the creation of Superman?What department of the US government would be concerned with people with super powers, if they existed?

The idea of “no go zones” has been greatly made up, by xenophobes, about specific groups of immigrants, for a long time.I grew up in California’s Silicon Valley, and as a teenager, I remember hearing about the “Mexican no go zones” of East San Jose, where “even cops don’t go”.Laughably untrue on every level, of course.However, that was the original definition of such fantasy no-go zones: an area of a given city that had literally been taken over by “them” (any “them”) to the point that even local authorities couldn’t and wouldn’t enter.However, per the fact that there are not actually “no go zones”, the people who are scared of foreigners, and who had made up that no go zones do exist - changed the definition (so that “no go zones” could still “exist) - as follows:“Well, I was riding the bus on the South Side, and a couple of “them” got on - and I felt afraid - so the South Side has become a No Go Zone!!”Rather ridiculous., wouldn’t you say?Even more ridiculous is that the pundits who make a living trying to scare you with scary stories about “them” (Muslim “them” in this case) literally don’t seem to realize that sharing one of their scary fairy tales in public might result in some people pointing out that fairy tales are not actually true.Case in point: Steven Emerson, Executive Director, Investigative Project on Terrorism (aka anti-Muslim blogger Steve Emerson) was lying about Muslims, as usual, during a FOX News interview in 2015, when he outdid even himself:"There are actual cities" like Birmingham, England, "that are totally Muslim where non-Muslims just simply don’t go in."~Steve Emerson, FOX News interview, 2015Source: Fox News guest Steven Emerson says Birmingham is 'totally Muslim'Now, some people - the people who watch FOX News, for instance, know that Emerson is the Executive Director for the Investigative Project on Terrorism, and they think this means that Emerson officially knows stuff about Terrorism and Muslims and Sharia and No Go Zones, and stuff.And so, unfortunately they actually believe statements like that.Other people, for instance, people with common sense, and/or who know anything at all about Birmingham, England — know that any such statements, are completely divorced from reality.And understandably, these people might mention that fact.And where it can get quite interesting is when one of those people is the (now former) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron.“When I heard this, frankly, I choked on my porridge and I thought it must be April Fools’ day,” Cameron said. “This guy’s clearly a complete idiot.”Fox News man is 'idiot' for Birmingham Muslim comments – David CameronThis statement from Cameron elicited an understandable apology from FOX News.“Over the course of the past week, Fox News has made some regrettable errors on-air regarding the Muslim population in Europe, particularly in England and France.This applies especially to discussions of supposed "no-go zones" - areas where non-Muslims are allegedly not allowed and police supposedly won't go.There was no formal designation of these zones in either country and no credible information to support the assertion that there are areas of these countries that exclude individuals based solely on their religion.Fox News deeply regrets the errors and apologizes to any and all who may have taken offense, including the people of France and England.”Fox News Apologizes for Errors Regarding European Muslim PopulationAnd, to his credit, Emerson actually apologized unequivocally, as well."I have clearly made a terrible error for which I am deeply sorry. My comments about Birmingham were totally in error. And I am issuing this apology and correction for having made this comment about the beautiful city of Birmingham.I do not intend to justify or mitigate my mistake by stating that I had relied on other sources because I should have been much more careful. There was no excuse for making this mistake and I owe an apology to every resident of Birmingham.I am not going to make any excuses. I made an inexcusable error. And I am obligated to openly acknowledge that mistake. I wish to apologize for all residents of that great city of Birmingham.Steve EmersonPS. I am making donation to Birmingham Children's Hospital."Source: Emerson with Judge Pirro: No-Go Islamic Zones and Western Self-DenialBut how did it all get that far? How was it that Steve Emerson actually thought he could lie that blatantly on FOX News, and not be called out on it?It seems to be the effect of the ideological distortion field in which some people live - where even the blatantly untrue things you believe feel really true, and in some cases, true enough to be stated as if they were factual, in an international media interview.What’s the reality?The reality, of course, is that almost all immigrants to a given nation, regardless of their religion or lack thereof, or their own culture or nation of origin, have neither the means or the inclination to try to make a no go zone in their new country.There’s also the fact that no nation with even the most basic form of government and the ability to maintain civil order would allow any kind of “no go zone” in its midst.Despite that, though, the fantasy of no go zones makes excellent fear-fodder for people who are easily frightened by ideas of “them” (any “them”).The bottom line is this:Back in the days before global social media, various scary lies about “them” were useful - and fairly easy to perpetrate — because they couldn’t be easily verified or disproven.That’s no longer true, of course.And so, people like Steve Emerson, who lie about others for a living, still have their fan base - i.e. FOX News viewers - who automatically believe the lies, not because they have any connection with truth, but because believing those lies feels good.The problems start when such lies are seen and heard by the people who know that they’re lies - and who don’t have an emotional vested interest in believing them.People like David Cameron, for instance.

That we don't have a written constitution, but one that's based on precedent. When a tricky constitutional question comes up, no one really knows the answer.We don't get excited about freedom of speech. It's a bit of a non-issue. (And things seem to run smoothly - I'm pretty sure that any group like the Westboro Baptist Church would be banned/arrested fairly quickly. And no one would worry about whether their rights had been violated.) (And someone was recently sent to prison for what they wrote on Twitter. Update: It's happened again: Man jailed for antisemitic tweet to Labour MP).There is no right to bear arms, and no movement (worth mentioning) for a relaxation in very strict gun laws.There is not a big fuss made about the way that the British flag is treated. There is no flag code, and no pledging allegiance. You can set fire to a flag if you like - no one will take any more (or less) notice than if you set fire to any other piece of cloth or paper. You can buy Union Flag toilet paper.It's very, very rare to see a police officer carrying a gun. Most British police never carry a gun.Police in Britain fired their guns three times (that's three gunshots, i.e. three bullets) in 2013. No one was killed by those shots. (In 2012, one person was killed by being shot by the British police - I haven't seen information about how many shots were fired.)The last time a British police officer was shot and killed was 2012 (when two officers were shot). The time before that was 2007.Carrying a knife can get you arrested if the blade is more than 3 inches long and you don't have a good explanation of why you have it. You may not buy a knife if you are under 18 - even a butter knife. There is no movement for a right to bear knives either. Knives: the laws on buying and carryingIn 2011 there were 177,185 people born in the US living in the UK. (I didn't find a source of the opposite - British citizenship is not as clear as US citizenship.) That's approximately 1 person in 300, and includes Boris Johnson, the mayor of London.If you're born in the UK, you are not automatically a UK citizen.There is no separation of church and state. In fact, it's the opposite. The Queen, as head of state is nominally the head of the Church of England. She defers to the prime minister who appoints the person who actually runs it (the Archbishop of Canterbury). The Church of England bishops have a role in the goverment - there are 26 bishops in the House of Lords (imagine that 26 pastors of super-churches automatically sit in congress, and that these people led prayers at the start of each day. )Many state (public) schools are influenced by the church. I went to three Church of England (Controlled) schools - which is very common. In such a school, the local Church of England vicar chairs the board of governors. (I don't know if that's still the case - there was nothing special about it, this was a regular local school).Related to that, the monarch, and the heir to the throne may not marry a Catholic. (This is being debated [Jan, 2013] and astonishingly some people are objecting to changing this rule: Hark what discord follows when you meddle with the monarchy - Telegraph).The education system allows you to specialize early. I did not study history, geography, art, Spanish after age 14. At 16 I dropped French, English, math(s), chemistry, English. (I think you have to do some science up to age 16 now). At 16 you choose three subjects to study.Accents vary within a very small region. I grew up 35 miles North of Birmingham, and 40 miles south of Manchester. My accent would never be mistaken for one of them. (In a murder case, known as the Yorkshire Ripper, police received a tape which they believed was from the murderer. They believed that they had narrowed the accent down to one small town.) Here's a nice video on accents -None of these people have an accent like mine. The closest I could find was:Petrol (gas) costs US$8.60/gallon in London (today's price, today's exchange rate: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/mar/23/petrol-prices-rise ).Unless there is some sort of crossing, you should not cross the street at a corner. (Drivers will not be expecting you there). Crossings tend to be few yards down the road away from a corner.Most people teaching and working in universities are not professors. When I was an undergraduate there was one professor in the psychology department. I then went on to work in another psychology department of a university which had no professors (for several years).There's only one private university in the country. (There are a few very, very small places - but only one that you would really consider to be a university). It's the University of Buckingham.British people have very different ideas about how long a drive is. A 100 mile drive would be a long way. I told my mother I was driving to a ski resort almost 100 miles away. She asked where we were staying, because there's no way that anyone would drive 100 miles in a day, and then just drive home the same day.Related to this, the UK is small. The area of the UK is about the same size as Michigan. England is about the size of Louisiana.But the UK is densely populated. The population of the UK is about that of Michigan plus Louisiana plus Kentucky, Oregon, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Connecticut, Iowa, Mississippi, Arkansas, Utah, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico, Nebraska, West Virginia, Idaho, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Montana, Delaware, South Dakota, Alaska, North Dakota, District of Columbia, Vermont and Wyoming,England, Great Britain, the United Kingdom and the British Isles are all different things. If you call someone English, when they're not, they might be insulted. (But it's OK to call them British, or that they're a citizen of the United Kingdom.)Cricket matches can last 5 days. And if it rains, it's a draw.No party ever gets a majority of the popular vote in parliamentary elections. In the 1997 election (the first Tony Blair won) the Labour Party won more seats than they had ever won before in a historic landslide victory . They got 43.7% of the popular vote (and 63% of the seats in Parliament). George W Bush squeaked a controversial victory in 2000 with 47.9% of the popular vote.British people are said to have bad teeth, until (relatively) recently, having bad teeth was a sign that they were your own teeth, not false teeth. A reason for pride.British plumbing is quite different from American plumbing. In the UK, for example, there tends to be a gap between where the drain pipe ends, and where the drain begins. The drain from the bathroom (not toilet) and kitchen sink might look like this (it's usually got a cover). It's somewhat unsightly (less so with a cover) but much easier to access when it's blocked.If you ever see a very long, very straight road, it's likely it was built by the Romans originally, and it's been updated since then. Watling Street is the most famous example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watling_StreetTown / city names that end in -cester or -chester (Worcester, Leicester, Chichester, Winchester) were founded, or named, by the Romans and tend to the in the South. Towns that end -by (Derby, Corby, Whitby) were named or founded by the Vikings and tend to be further North.Most people drive manual (stick shift) cars. If you pass your driving test in an automatic car, you will get a licence that only allows you to drive automatics. This is very rare. If you rent a car, it's likely it will be manual, unless you specify that you want automatic.Postcodes are much more specific than zipcodes. A postcode only refers to a few houses, and some businesses will have their own postcode. If you put someone's name and their postcode on a letter, it will probably reach them. If you put their house number and postcode, it will definitely reach them. (E.g. I use to live at number 49, YO31 1BP. There's only one house with that number in that postcode.)The best selling newspaper (The Sun) in the country prints a large, color picture of a topless woman (just to be clear, with breasts exposed), on page 3. Labour party politicians (equivalent of Democrats) are much more likely to want to do something about this than Conservative politicians (equivalent of Republicans).Sometimes you'll see older houses with what appears to be a window which has been filled in with bricks. This is because houses were taxed according to the number of windows - the window tax. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_taxThe first time it reached 100F anywhere in England was in Kent (South East) in 2003. (I'm not sure if it's happened again.)'Squash' is a drink. Lemonade is clear and fizzy (like 7-Up).Diet Coke outsells regular Coke.Healthcare is free (at point of use - it's paid for by taxes). I know that most Americans know this, but they don't really understand it until they experience it. If you are injured, you can go to a hospital or doctor or walk in center and they will treat you. You will pay no money. You will provide no ID. (They'll ask your name, for the record, but they won't know if you're lying). If you're in the hospital, it's free. If you're an inpatient in the hospital, food is free. Lab tests are free. Home visits are free. It's all free. (And the UK spends less on healthcare per person than the US).Scotland and Wales have separate parliaments, a little like a state. But they are still part of the UK. England does not have a separate parliament. But the Scottish parliament has more power than the Welsh parliament.If you need medication of any kind, it's a flat fee of around $12 per prescription, regardless of what it is (even if it costs less than that). If you're over 60, under 16, pregnant or poor, it's free. If you need a lot of prescriptions, you can buy a pre-payment certificate - (about) $50 buys all your medication for 3 months, $150 buys them all for a year. (This is different in Scotland, I believe).The exception to the prescription charge is for contraception. That's always free. This is not controversial.Dental treatment is free for children.In June 2012, it was reported that the prime minister was having lunch in a pub and went home, forgetting his 8 year old daughter. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/jun/11/david-cameron-daughter-behind-pub. This was generally reported as "Ho ho, shows he's human. I've done that too." Imagine if the president had gone for lunch with his daughter to a bar, and forgotten her there. The reaction might be different.An MP doesn't have to live in the area they represent. They don't even need to have any connection to it. Boris Johnson (current mayor of London) stood for election in Henley without any prior connection to it. The reason being that Henley was a seat that the Conservatives (his party) were virtually certain to win. People can stand for election in multiple constituencies (not at the same time though). One way of proving you are a good campaigner is to stand in a seat that your party is very unlikely to win (and hence is not competitive to get the position), and then to do better than expected. Having shown you are a good campaigner, this means you are more likely to be selected to stand in a seat which is marginal.In 1971, the UK changed to decimal money. Before that, the money system was based on that introduced by the Romans and was extremely convoluted. There were four farthings (until 1960) or two halfpennies to a penny. 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shilling (240 pence) in a pound. A guinea was 21 shillings. There was a 10 shilling note, and a sixpenny bit. A crown was 5 shillings. A half crown was 2 shillings and 6 pence. A threepence coin was three pennies. After the changeover, people would ask "What's that in old money?", the phrase "Old money" came to mean the old way of doing something. If you said something was two metres, and I asked "What's that in old money?", I'd be asking how many feet and inches it is. After the conversion, a shilling was worth 5 pence (1/20th of a pound), and was still called a shilling or a bob. A ten bob bit is a 50 pence piece. (A friend of my father's had moved to the UK and was buying something in a second hand store. He asked how much something was, and the shopkeeper said "10 bob". He had no idea what that meant, so he said "How much?" The shopkeeper thought he was haggling, and said "All right, what about 4op?" More here: £sdBanknotes (bills) are different sizes, to help partially sighted and blind people tell them apart. Coins are also designed (thickness, diameter, shape, edge) to be able to be distinguished by touch for the same reason.NOTE: This one isn't really true. See : Is Muhammad the most popular boy's name in Britain? and Martin Beer's comment below. The most common first name for boys would be Mohammed, if there weren't so many different ways to spell it (e.g. Mohammed, Muhammad, Mohammad).There are strict rules about what can be called a city. Towns are sometimes granted city status on special occasions, in 2000, for the millenium, Brighton and Hove became a city, as did Wolverhampton. More here: City status in the United KingdomSales tax is set nationally, and its called Value Added Tax (often, but not always, pronounced 'vat'). It's currently set at 20%. It applies to goods and services (unlike sales tax in the US). It originally applied to 'luxury' goods, but that definition has increased. For example, adult clothes have VAT, children's clothes don't. Hot takeaway food has VAT, cold food doesn't (so if a store microwaves something for you, they should charge VAT, if you eat it cold, they don't). Frozen peas have VAT, canned peas don't. It's very rare for anything in shops selling to the public, rather than business, to have the price before VAT, so most consumers don't know what it applies to and what it doesn't.Children are allowed in many bars and pubs in the UK. Heck, they're encouraged. Many pubs have outdoor or indoor playgrounds to keep children amused while their parents can drink a beer (or whatever).Many cities have a football (soccer) team, or more than one named for them (Manchester City, Manchester United). London doesn't. (Although London has many teams, they don't have London in their names.)Counties are the (another, very rough) approximation of states in the US. But counties get shuffled about more often. Rutland ceased to exist (as a political entity) in 1974, but it was reinstated in 1994.The vast majority of households in the UK will have an electric kettle, for heating water to make tea and coffee.Lots of surnames are named after places. But these don't tend to be large places - there are very few people with the surname "London". Something like your occupation, or your city of origin, would be used to identify you - you were "Jack from London", but if it were a big place (like London) that might not be useful, because there could be more than one Jack from London (so your occupation might be used). The most common surname based on a place in the UK is Burton (which is known for its beer).Grilled cheese sandwiches don't exist. The closest thing would be a 'toastie' or a toasted sandwich (made in a sandwich toaster).Arugula is called 'rocket'.You can drink alcohol in a bar from the age of 18. You can drink beer, wine and cider if you are eating a meal and with an adult at 16. You can drink alcohol at home at 5.Cider always has alcohol in it.Chips (which an American would call 'fries') are typically served with salt and vinegar - ideally malt vinegar. Some pubs which are very finickety about their beer will not have vinegar, in case it contaminates the beer.Marmite is delicious.